USA Today and internationally bestselling author Jennifer Robson takes readers to 1920s Paris in an enthralling new historical novel that tells the riveting story of an English lady who trades in her staid aristocratic life for the mesmerizing salons and the heady world of the Lost Generation.

It’s the spring of 1924, and Lady Helena Montagu-Douglas-Parr has just arrived in France. On the mend after a near-fatal illness, she is ready to embrace the restless, heady allure of the City of Lights. Her parents have given her one year to live with her eccentric aunt in Paris and Helena means to make the most of her time. She’s quickly drawn into the world of the Lost Generation and its circle of American expatriates, and with their encouragement, she finds the courage to pursue her dream of becoming an artist.

One of those expats is Sam Howard, a journalist working for the Chicago Tribune. Irascible, plain-spoken, and scarred by his experiences during the war, Sam is simply the most fascinating man she has ever met. He’s also entirely unsuitable.

As Paris is born anew, rising phoenix-like from the ashes of the Great War, Helena realizes that she, too, is changing. The good girl she once was, so dutiful and obedient, so aware of her place in the world, is gone forever. Yet now that she has shed her old self, who will she become, and where, and with whom, does she belong…?

This was an incredibly beautiful story. Helena has had a very rough few years - from being left by her fiance and then blamed for it to almost dying of fever. But since she has decided to really live her life, she leaves England behind for the sights and sounds of Paris and art school - sounds like a great idea.

And it was. Watching Helena really come into her own and learn to live life to the fullest was so much fun. Her artist friends are colorful, but not so much that they become caricatures. You fall in love with all of them and the little circle of friendship that they develop. They all have their own very unique personality and histories that have brought them together in one place. Most of the story involves all of them growing and learning together - and it all just seemed incredible natural. But once in awhile it became a little drawn out. Not much but just enough to notice.

There's a love interest, a grumpy professor, and an eccentric aunt that all have important roles to play in Helena's life. Not everything turns out the way I expected. Some pleasant and unexpected surprises are included and Helena doesn't get everything and all that she hopes for. But that is also the beauty of the story.

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